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Thursday, January 22, 2009

The big 3-0

This past weekend we went out on a trip to Lake Atitlan with a group of ten volunteers. A little well-deserved R 'n R if I do say so myself. We drove for about two hours, stopped the van, unloaded the bikes and rode the last 30km stretch down to the lake. Mostly downhill and windy roads so super fun!

The odd, randomly placed speed bump almost got the better of us a couple times but we managed to stay on two wheels. At least I think Troy did, he was too far ahead of me for me to know for sure. Whle I had one hand on the brake the whole time, I'm sure he was pedaling to gain speed for most of it!

We were surrounded by beautiful views and vistas the whole way and stopped for lunch at a great lookout spot. The lake is basically surrounded by volcanoes and a smattering of small towns and villages. Once we arrived at Lake Atitlan, we boarded a boat 'taxi' that took us to La Casa del Mundo, near the town of Panajachel. The hotel was the cutest I have ever seen and it reminded me of the one in Mama Mia.

We relaxed in the sun, jumped in the lake and enjoyed the wood stove heated hot-tub until the wee hours of, oh about 9 o'clock! We all turned in early as all that fresh air took it out of us! In the morning we set out in kayaks and set out across the lake (well not literally across, but to a different spot.). I shared a kayak with Lindsay while Troy shared a kayak with Mark. Predictibly they were the only two that capsized as they were too busy blaming each other for going in the wrong direction to notice the approaching wave!

The gals and I however were quite impressed by our rowing skill :).

That is Lindsay in the middle, and Nancy on the right. Since Troy was already wet, he didn't hesitate to add a cliff jump to the itinerary. Notice his jump technique - arms straight up in the air. In retrospect, this is not recommended unless you want lobster-red tingly arms with no feelings in your hands....

We capped off Sunday with a hike back to the hotel. It was beautiful and sunny and I probably won't soon forget where/how I welcomed in the big 3-0.

I like the downhill part... but ya gotta remember, "what comes down, must go back up"!(Careful with the hand signals... not sure about your location, but in Brazil, the upside down "OK" is naughty, naughty...)

Photo Favorites

2011: Since returning home from the year of travel that was 2009, we spent 2010 struggling to strike a balance between establishing roots and entertaining urges to uproot. We think that a month in Nicaragua will be nothing, if not good for the soul.
...
2009: A year of volunteering and seeking adventure around the world.
The idea is simple enough and just feels right.
Maybe there was something in the spring air that day, or maybe we were under the influence of having had our eyes opened to a new reality last year on our visit to Africa, or maybe we had just grown restless, but we decided to leave our jobs, sell our house, and go out and see the world. Really see the world.

Moxy

Whenever I encounter something particularly difficult, no matter how trivial, say rain on a long run day or an impossible climb on a mountain bike trail, Troy says to me, "it's just testin' your moxy nic", to which my conditioned response has become "hey (insert obstacle here), is that all you got??!". Well, we have decided to step out of our comfort zone, test our moxy and ask the world, no matter what obstacles we face along the way, Hey World, is that all you got? We will, in turn, find out what we've got.

Our Journey

2011: Four weeks in Nicaragua, May 3-31.

2009: I hesitate to use the word 'itinerary' as I know that we are going to have to go with the flow and be extremely flexible. I can already here my sister's voice reminding me, as she has a million times in the past, "Nicole, there is Plan A, and then there's what really happens!"